ON THIS DAY

■1610: Henry IV of France, “Good King Henry”, was murdered by a mad monk in Paris.

■1643: Louis XIV became King of France at the age of four years 231 days - and reigned for more than 72 years.

■1727: Artist Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk.

■1779: The Oaks was first run at Epsom.

■1796: Edward Jenner made his first vaccination against smallpox, and laid the foundation for modern immunology.

■1811: Paraguay proclaimed its independence.

■1842: The British periodical Illustrated London News was first published.

■1921: The British Legion was founded in London - it became the Royal British Legion in 1971.

■1948: Israel was established as a Jewish state following the partition of Palestine.

■1955: Eastern Bloc countries signed the Warsaw Pact.

■1987: American actress Rita Hayworth died.

■ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A powerful earthquake stuck Papua New Guinea, triggering a tsunami alert for the country and for the nearby Solomon Islands.

■BIRTHDAYS: Chay Blyth, roundthe-world yachtsman, 80; George Lucas, filmmaker, 76; Francesca Annis, actress, 75; David Byrne, musician (Talking Heads), 68; Robert Zemeckis, film director, 68; Tim Roth, actor, 59; Ian Astbury, singer (The Cult), 58; Cate Blanchett, above, actress, 51; Olly Murs, singer, 36; Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook co-founder, 36.

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■ The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2016 was 62.8%